GAO Releases Assessment of Agencies Initial Workplace Safety, Reentry Plans
In its recent report on reentry and workplace safety procedures, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that many federal agencies failed to address the April 2020 guidance from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
More than a dozen agencies neglected reentry training, new ventilation protocols, and masking requirements in the initial reentry plans developed in the spring of 2020. Although all agencies developed reentry plans, some did not proceed with subsequent development phases, and not one plan adhered to the federal guidelines established by OMB and OPM.
Depending on the agency, different percentages of employees were allowed to return to work during each phase. Agencies allowed anywhere from 10 to 40 percent of employees to return in the first phase and from 25 to 80 percent of employees to return in the second phase.
“Some agencies relied mainly on state and local guidance to inform reentry decisions, while others conducted their own internal analysis of state and local data for decision-making. However, this inconsistency means that government employees located in the same area, but working for different agencies, might have been subject to different safety protocols,” stated Michelle B. Rosenberg, Director of Strategic Issues at the GAO.
The establishment of the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force (Task Force) and agency COVID-19 coordination teams in January of 2021 supplied model safety principles and the necessary management for consistency in subsequent workplace safety and updated reentry plans.
“[A]gencies highlighted the task force members’ engagement in workplace safety implementation and responsiveness to questions,” continued GAO’s Rosenberg. “Two agencies reported that the task force assigned them a health expert, with whom they worked to address specific safety matters and to inform workplace safety plan development.”
OPM plans to review lessons learned from agencies and the pandemic in reinstituted human capital reviews, which are expected to begin again in 2022.
